


Are you missing something?

by nopesther



Series: The Umbrella Whisperings [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Everyone Needs A Hug, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Other, i'm just tRYING to do something, protect ben hargreeves, someone gives coffee to Five, that's my rarepair i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 08:33:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18090983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nopesther/pseuds/nopesther
Summary: “Are you… talking to Ben?”“Well… maybe? Yes, actually. Have been for a couple of years now, but y’know, no one really noticed -or just considered that I was high, which was usually true!”





	Are you missing something?

**Author's Note:**

> I've written this really quickly without proper re-reading; so sorry for the mistakes! Also, it was supposed to be a fluffy thing but then my hand slipped - my bad duh.

**30th March 2019  
**

 

And Klaus was doing it, again.

Five hadn’t notice the first time, he was probably too focused on many other things (like the world ending, finding Delores, getting his siblings back together, escaping The Commission); his brother talking to the void was definitely not one of his priority.

But now that some of the problems that he was struggling with were finally solved (he had honestly been a little surprised to see Hazel proposing his help after all the shit he had done to his family, but Five didn’t have to kill him anymore, so why not), now that Five could, maybe,  _ rest  _ for the first time in ages, and drink whatever he wanted without listening to the bullshit his siblings were saying (he didn’t even know where they were and didn’t really care), only then he noticed that Klaus was actually talking to the void,  _ all the damn time _ .

And it was beginning to bother Five,  _ a lot _ .

 

“Who are you talking too?” Five asked abruptly to Klaus who was looking for something in their dad’s office, mumbling about some alcohol reserve or something (Five could maybe use this information for later too). 

“No one. Not your business. Am I talking to someone? Are you? I’m talking to you, that’s for sure!” 

Klaus was smiling but Five only gave him a bored look, then put his hands in his pockets and started to observe Klaus more attentively. He looked sick, more than before (more than the usual) - and Five knew all about time-travelling and consequences of the said time-travelling, but Klaus had been really acting weird lately.

“Are you sober?” Five asked, again, too curious to just leave without discovering at least something, anything (it was almost like, now that the world was not in danger anymore, his mind had nothing to think about, nothing to  _ obsess  _ about, and Five was almost freaking out - he needed something to not think too much, to keep his mind busy, to forget about the years he spent across the timelines and the people he killed).

“Yes. No. Maybe?” Klaus answered without looking at him, before adding “Oh shut up! No I can’t, I need it, please B-...” Klaus stopped talking and gave a look to Five, who was still staring at him.

“B?”

So Klaus did talk to someone -which, actually, wasn’t that weird, considering the fact that Klaus was kind of a medium, even though Five always saw him whining about his powers more than using them. 

Klaus tried to ignore Five’s presence behind his back (he really wanted to find that bottle of brandy he had seen their dad hide one day because it looked like a bottle from another time and it was probably the strongest brandy Klaus would ever drink, which was fine, because Klaus really needed a  _ strong ass drink right now _ .)

“No you don’t.” Ben ordered, “Oh for fuck sakes, Ben, you’re really pissing me off!”

Klaus froze.

“... Ben?”

Klaus slowly turned around to take a look at Five. He was still there, eyes widened, for a few seconds before a frown took over his look. “Are you… talking to Ben?”

Five didn’t know why his voice sounded so-  _ cracky _ . He hoped that Klaus wouldn’t notice. But he had not controlled the rush of emotions that came through his body at the sound of Number Six’s name. He didn’t even know why he had had this-  _ weird  _ sensation, the feeling that he was missing something really important, something that was actually right in front of him, but that he could not see.

_ Ben _ .

“Are you talking to Ben?” Five repeated, and this time his tone was harsh, and Klaus looked really embarrassed. “Well… maybe? Yes, actually. Have been for a couple of years now, but y’know, no one really noticed -or just considered that I was high, which was usually true! I can’t blame them.” But while he was talking, Five had come closer, looking around him as if it would give him any clue about what was going on between Klaus and his demons (or actual ghosts). 

Klaus kept deblatering about the fact that no one ever listened to him anyway, when he noticed Ben next to him, who seemed nervous looking at Five. “You alright pal?” Klaus asked before thinking that it was really a stupid question to ask to a ghost -and Ben probably would have pointed it out, but Five was faster.

“Yes. Why’d you ask?” Klaus could feel that Five was upset, but he didn’t understand why, just as much as he didn’t understand why Ben looked so confused. 

“If you really are talking to him right now, why can’t I see him?” Five asked suddenly.

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

“Well… because he’s-”

“Don’t say it.”

Ben had spoken out louder than usual, again, Klaus thought that he was looking almost sick, and that didn’t make any sense, and he had enough of getting orders from everyone in this fucking family, he just wanted to find his brandy, nothing less, nothing more, and he didn’t need Five to show up and ask him questions about the things he said, or saw, or did, neither did he need a weird-angsty-looking Ben acting like a ghost in total despair.

“Can he hear me?” Five asked, still looking around him, still looking for something  _ -someone _ .

And then Klaus understood. His face softened a little. 

He had forgotten that Five had learnt about Ben’s death only a few days ago, and that he never had the chance to mourn him like they did, not to mention that Five had been pretty busy with all that end-of-the-world thing. 

Maybe that was the first time since his come-back that he realised that Ben was really gone.

“Yes he can.” Klaus answered eventually. He gave a look at Ben who was still looking rather confused, just as much as Five who was nervously tapping his thigh with his middle finger. 

And then, Klaus witnessed something he never thought he would: Ben walked past him and stood right in front of Five, who could not see him obviously, and said: “Tell him that I’m in front of him. Tell him that he can talk to me.” Klaus blinked, didn’t answer, and Ben turned to him. “ _ Please _ .” Klaus had never seen this look on Ben’s face, it was-  _ pure  _ sadness. Ben looked desperate. Klaus almost felt like crying just at the sight of his brother looking so helpless and upset.

But he didn’t.

He took a deep breath, and spoke out.

“Ben is in front of you right now,” he said “he says you can talk to him.”

Five stepped backward in surprise. “He- what?”

Klaus sighed. “You can’t see him but he’s there, and apparently he wants you to talk to him. Did you too had a bond I didn’t know about?” He asked jokingly. He was trying to lighten the mood a bit, because both Five and Ben looked nothing but fine, and it was starting to make him feel bad as well.

Five looked at Klaus, and then looked in front of him again, trying to find something his gaze could catch in the emptiness of the room- but there was nothing, just him and Klaus. That didn’t make any sense. He felt stupid.

“That’s stupid.” Five said abruptly and, without another look for Klaus, he turned around and walked out of the office. 

Klaus stayed perplexed. He turned to Ben. “Is there something you never told me about you and Five- Ben? Are you alright?” 

Ben didn’t answer his questions. He was hiding behind his hood, making it impossible for Klaus to see his face. But he heard his voice, it sounded so broken he made Klaus’s heart to flinch. 

“It’s so hard to be like this.”

And Klaus didn’t have to ask him what he meant by “this” to understand. If he could, he probably would have hugged him, but that wasn’t possible and, somehow, that made Klaus even more upset that he already was because of the whole situation. That wasn’t fair. 

It’s never fair to die so young. 

It’s never fair to see your own family ignoring your existence -or what remains of your existence.

It’s never fair to see the ones you cherish the most turning their back on you just like Five had done. And Klaus could totally understand that. 

Klaus sighed. 

“C’mon… we’re getting waffles.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed and cried as much as I did because I fell into this mess that is The Umbrella family 3 days ago and I can't get over it, seriously. Five and Ben are my fav but I pretty much love everyone? Also, this was supposed to be part of a bigger thing but I thought about publishing this to see if anyone here is as sad as me about Ben and Five's relationship hahaha (please someone send help)  
> \- anyway, I hope you liked it, let me know in the comment!! (and maybe there will be more of it)


End file.
